THOUGHTS ON PROF. HAWKING BY SOMEONE THAT KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT SCIENCE

My friend Ioannes at Commentarius de Prognosticics, someone that actually knows something about science, has written extensively about Prof. Hawkings and his beliefs. I would recommend that you go over and read them. The articles can be found here, here, here, here and here.

Enjoy yourself!

POPE SMACKS HAWKING AROUND

"Pope Benedict XVI says he believes scientists who deny the existence of God are wrong, that God exists and that he did create the universe.

The pope did not mention names but was clearly referring to physicist and mathematician Stephen Hawking, who proposed in a book published last month that the laws of physics can account for the creation of the world and that a supreme being is not required, CNN reported.

...In his book, "The Grand Design," Hawking said that, given the existence of gravity, "the universe can and will create itself from nothing."
UPI

Perhaps it's just me suffering from a woeful lack of formal education but I read this quote from Hawking and I just had to ask, if the existence of gravity accounts for the creation of the universe how can Hawking say the universe was created from nothing? Gravity is something, no? And if gravity pre-exists the universe and was the cause of the universe then the universe was created from something.

But, Prof Hawking, who created the gravity?

These are the games played when atheists try to wrap their faith in science to make it seem logical to the world. I would expect better from someone as intelligent as Hawking.

HALLIBURTON IS EVIL - YAWN!

"Halliburton Co. found repeated problems with the cement it was planning to install in BP PLC's doomed oil well but used it anyway—perhaps without alerting BP—according to federal investigators studying the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Halliburton tests showed that cement similar to that used to seal BP's Macondo well would be unstable, but neither BP nor Halliburton acted on the data before the blowout, according to new documents. Siobhan Hughes joins the News Hub to discuss.

The cement was supposed to seal the well and prevent explosive natural gas from flowing in. Why the seal failed has been a central question in the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 workers and set off the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The investigators' findings brought new scrutiny to Halliburton, which until now has escaped most of the blame for the disaster. Halliburton's stock price tumbled 8% on the news closing at $31.68 on the New York Stock Exchange, despite the company's assurance that it was indemnified by BP for damages.

Both Halliburton and BP declined to comment Thursday. Halliburton has previously blamed BP for failing to heed its advice on the design of the well and failing to do all the necessary tests, while BP has said that Halliburton's cement mixture itself was to blame.

Investigators cautioned that their findings don't let BP off the hook, noting that cement failures are relatively common. It is up to the well's owner—BP, in the case of this well, called Macondo—to test the cement and fix any problems, they noted.

"The story of the blowout does not turn solely on the quality of the Macondo cement job," investigators wrote in a letter to members of the presidential commission probing the disaster.

Other seals and valves higher up the well also should have stopped the flow of explosive natural gas. Workers from BP and Transocean Ltd., which owned the rig, failed to detect gas entering the well, and misinterpreted a key test that should have revealed problems. Another important test was never done."
Wall Street Journal

Our favorite villain has surfaced once again.

My guess is that before this is over we'll find that everyone involved in the blowout from corporations to the government will have had a hand in the failure. Companies cutting corners and regulators being bought. No surprise here.

The real surprise will be if anyone besides some low level sacrificial goat is ever prosecuted much less held accountable for this. No execs or high level government officials will ever be arrested much less brought before the courts. And that's the way it works in America today.

One law for them, another for us.

HANDSHAKE INJURES POLITICIAN - WAH WAH WAH

"A firm handshake is usually seen as a good thing in business and even in politics.
Not so much in South Florida. A candidate for the Broward County School Board wants the cops to lock up her opponent after what she claims was akin to battery after a recent debate.

Jaemi Levine filed a complaint with the Broward Sheriff's Office claiming David Thomas squeezed her hand so hard during a post-debate handshake Tuesday that it now hurts.

Instead of getting a grip on education issues, Thomas decided to get a grip on his opponent for the Disctrict 4 seat."
NBC Miami

So on the one hand you scream about equal rights then you turn around and try to use your feminine weakness as a weapon against your opponent. Give me a real woman any day of the week, one that will stand on her own two feet as an equal and fight fair and square. You can't have it both ways.

If he was really hurting you, Ms. Levine, you should have made an issue of it at the moment. Act like a man, for goodness sakes!

My wife would have ripped his throat out and kicked while he was down for good measure.

CURTMAN FOR MISSOURI STATE REP 105 DISTRICT

Unfortunately, I can't vote for Paul Curtman because he's in the next district over. But he seems to be the real deal. I've met him and heard him speak. He believes what he says.

REPUBLICANS PLAY THE RACE CARD

"Former President Bill Clinton tried to persuade Florida Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of his U.S. Senate race and support Gov. Charlie Crist's independent candidacy in hopes of thwarting a victory by Republican Marco Rubio.

People familiar with the matter said the former president and other top national Democrats worry a win by the charismatic Mr. Rubio, a 39-year-old Cuban-American, would make him a political phenomenon capable of boosting the GOP's chances with Hispanic voters. These people said the conversation occurred during Mr. Clinton's Florida visit on Oct. 19. Mr. Meek wavered for several days—suggesting to some that he could leave the race—but decided against it.

"They had a conversation about the fact that the prospects of him winning had passed him by and that the only way the Republican would be defeated is to jump on board with Crist," said a Florida Democrat familiar with the discussion.

...Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele accused Mr. Clinton of wronging black voters in his attempts to coax Mr. Meek out of the race. Mr. Meek, a Miami congressman, is African-American. The intervention would send a "chilling signal to all voters, but especially African Americans," said Mr. Steele, who is black."
Wall Street Journal

That card gets passed all 'round the table, doesn't it?

Black voters shouldn't be surprised and neither should anyone else that politicians have as their main concern the continuance of power, not the welfare of their constituents. All that vote based on some kind of weird idea that any party stands for anything beyond victory and the further aggregation of power are fools. The party will do whatever it has to do to survive. That's why the TEA Party is being sucked into the GOP. At least those that have positioned themselves as the leadership of the TEA Party are being sucked in. What these "leaders" and the GOP don't understand is that the TEA Party is a set of shared ideals and principles. No one person or organization speaks for it. In this respect it cannot be co-opted.

Many if not most of us that are part of the movement are voting Republican, not because we like the GOP but because at this point they are the lesser of two evils. But, give us a real choice and we'll go there. Give us no choice and you get Tom Tancredo in Colorado, running for the American Constitution Party and looking as though he just might win.

So everybody, black, white, yellow or whatever needs to understand that the politicians don't care about us. Treat them in the same way. Make them work for your support and then make them strive to retain it.

BAG SEARCHES - BODY SCANS- GOODBYE FOURTH AMENDMENT

"The day after federal investigators unveiled an unsuccessful terrorist plot against the D.C. Metro system, transit police are considering implementing one of the most controversial security measures available to them.

Metro police now believe they may have to resort to random bag searches, after learning of the FBI's Wednesday arrest of Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Va., for helping to plan an attack on the D.C. subways.

"We will definitely look at that," Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn tells WTOP."
WTOP

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

I'm sure that the police will get a warrant, signed by a judge, each and every time they search a bag. After all, they swore an oath to uphold the Constitution!

This shows just how much trust you should place in anyone that has a badge. They will lie to God so what is the chance they'll tell the truth to you? I'm not saying that all cops are bad just that, because of violations of our basic human rights such as the one above, we can no longer trust them. Now, whenever I deal with the police I have to be on my guard.

I'm sick of this world of lies and mistrust.

I wanna move to Mayberry!

THE RETURN OF LOUIS XVI

"With riots in the streets and poll ratings in the basement, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is under pressure from both home and abroad to delay delivery of a refitted jet that will cost the taxpayer £151million.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is among those who have apparently told the luxury loving Sarkozy that now might not be the best time to take charge of the aircraft that is said to be dripping with 'bling'."
Daily Mail

H/T Quest For The Pearl

Either the ruling class is completely blind to the coming revolution or they just don't care. Since they're generally smart people I have to believe that they don't care. But why?

Either they want to quicken the collapse for some reason, perhaps to hasten the coming new world order, or it's just the same old arrogance of power that has been part and parcel of kings and czars and all the others with power through the whole history of mankind.

Either way, stupidity like this just throws gas on the fire.

BACKED INTO A CORNER

"U.S. House Republicans plan to try to slash $100 billion from the federal budget as early as January if they wrest power from Democrats in this year’s midterm elections, setting up possible early showdowns with President Barack Obama on taxes and spending.

A Republican House takeover would thrust new committee heads, such as Representative Dave Camp on the Ways and Means panel, into the spotlight within weeks -- or days -- of seizing their gavels in early January. They would confront quick political tests that could alienate independent voters and Tea Party activists alike, analysts said.

“The major issues are going to be fiscal, and fiscal issues are always contentious,” said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California.

Carrying out spending cuts that Republicans have pledged to seek -- which would amount to 21 percent of the government’s so-called discretionary money pot -- could prove politically difficult. Reducing funds for programs such as college loans for low-income students or medical research at the National Institutes of Health is harder than promising to do that on the campaign trail."
Bloomberg

I don't know anything about the guy in this video but I think what he says plays right into the article above.

If the Republicans win big, as everyone believe they will, and if they do what they've promised, and how often does that happen, pain and suffering on an incredible scale is right around the corner. Of course, if they don't do what they promised the same result will happen; it'll just take a bit longer.

Here's the deal. We are backed into a corner. Regardless of the feel good propaganda that Washington keeps putting out and no matter how they twist and distort the economic reports, we ARE in a depression, one at least as bad as the depression in the '30's and fixin' to get a whole lot worse.

Anyone with any sense of history has to ask, "But, where are the bread lines and the families on the street, and all the suffering we see in those old black and white pictures?" It's all being hidden by massive government spending. In the '30's we didn't have food stamps, unemployment insurance, AFDC, TARP and all the other giant personal and corporate welfare systems. When you failed, you failed.

All those people that should be out on the streets are getting a check from the government, written on an empty bank account which is allowing them to at least stay off the streets. If that money is withdrawn the bread lines will start the very next day.

So what are the Republicans to do? If they do as they've promised, and as I believe they have to, people will be on the streets and starving. Unless of course they're willing to start the cutting with all the pork in the private sector and the military and the corporate welfare to offset the cost of feeding people. In other words, to avoid starvation America's age of empire will have to stop.

That's fine by me and I suspect most other Americans but the friends of the politicians won't be happy, on either side of the aisle.

They need to stop propping up banks and insurance companies, car makers or any other business, those bastions of the free market that come running to mommy as soon as things get bad. Let them fail.

If they do this the level of joblessness will rise and the pain will become greater. Our fragile economic system will grind to a halt and quite possibly collapse.

But if the government quits pissing away money on things it was never intended to do, and if it lets the market work in a free and unencumbered state, maybe, just maybe we can get through this thing. Use the little we have to help the people and keep our defenses up because, believe me, our enemies have been waiting for this.

So, do you think that the Republicans have the courage to do all these things? Me either. So they'll continue on with Quantitative Easing and bailouts and all the other programs that ball-less politicians so love. And we'll collapse anyway.

Or perhaps, in a move worthy of Machiavelli himself, the Democrats will purposefully cause things to come unglued during the lame duck session, just so they can blame the inevitable on the Republicans and try to sidestep their own role in the matter.

Either way, hard times are coming, harder than anything we've seen in a long, long time.

Prepare. And spread the word. Most people don't understand just how bad things are going to be and how close we are to the real ugliness. Hell, we're in a depression and most can't even see that!

And pray. More important than anything else is to develop a line to God so you are open to hear what's being said. He won't leave us but so many have left Him. And they are the people that will truly suffer.

"Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff says U.S. government debt is not $13.5-trillion (U.S.), which is 60 per cent of current gross domestic product, as global investors and American taxpayers think, but rather 14-fold higher: $200-trillion – 840 per cent of current GDP. “Let’s get real,” Prof. Kotlikoff says. “The U.S. is bankrupt.”

Writing in the September issue of Finance and Development, a journal of the International Monetary Fund, Prof. Kotlikoff says the IMF itself has quietly confirmed that the U.S. is in terrible fiscal trouble – far worse than the Washington-based lender of last resort has previously acknowledged. “The U.S. fiscal gap is huge,” the IMF asserted in a June report. “Closing the fiscal gap requires a permanent annual fiscal adjustment equal to about 14 per cent of U.S. GDP.”

This sum is equal to all current U.S. federal taxes combined. The consequences of the IMF’s fiscal fix, a doubling of federal taxes in perpetuity, would be appalling – and possibly worse than appalling.

Prof. Kotlikoff says: “The IMF is saying that, to close this fiscal gap [by taxation], would require an immediate and permanent doubling of our personal income taxes, our corporate taxes and all other federal taxes.

“America’s fiscal gap is enormous – so massive that closing it appears impossible without immediate and radical reforms to its health care, tax and Social Security systems – as well as military and other discretionary spending cuts.”

He cites earlier calculations by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that concluded that the United States would need to increase tax revenue by 12 percentage points of GDP to bring revenue into line with spending commitments. But the CBO calculations assumed that the growth of government programs (including Medicare) would be cut by one-third in the short term and by two-thirds in the long term. This assumption, Prof. Kotlikoff notes, is politically implausible – if not politically impossible.

One way or another, the fiscal gap must be closed. If not, the country’s spending will forever exceed its revenue growth, and no one’s real debt can increase faster than his real income forever.

...He says the U.S. cannot end its fiscal crisis by increasing taxes. He opposes further stimulus spending because it will simply increase the debt. But he does suggest reforms that would help – most of which would require a significant withering away of the state."
Globe and Mail

"It’s truly hard to believe that it was just over two years ago that we invoked the Four Horsemen as our investment theme regarding the headwinds facing the consumer. The Four Horsemen being:

• Energy
• Employment
• Credit
• Housing

When you think about it, these constraints are still very much in play. The only supporting factors are government handouts, which now make up over 20% of personal disposable income."
Business Insider

ARGUING WITH LIBERALS

H/T A Traditional Life Lived

If you could just get the cussing and frothing at the mouth in here this would be perfect.

FUNNY NUMBERS AT THE FED

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So our government lies to us once again. Where's the news in that? The one thing that we can absolutely depend on is that we are being lied to and defrauded by politicians, bankers, insurance execs, oil execs, Wall Street and damned near everybody else involved in the greatest Ponzi scheme of all time.

Prepare yourselves, your families, your friends and communities. When this thing comes apart there is no way to even to begin to know what's going to happen.

Pray for protection.

MORE THUGGERY AT POLITICAL EVENT

"Supporters of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul wrestled a liberal protester to the ground and stomped her head against a sidewalk.

Lauren Valle, of the progressive group MoveOn.org, was wearing a wig and planned to present the Tea Party-backed candidate with a fake award prior to a debate with Democratic candidate Jack Conway Monday night in Lexington, Ky.

Television footage shows Valle's blonde wig being pulled off before she's pinned to the ground. A man then puts his foot down on her head a couple times and presses down on her.

Valle said the incident left her with "a bit of headache" but the incident did not require any extra medical attention. Paul's campaign released a statement calling the altercation "incredibly unfortunate" and expressed relief that Valle was not injured.

Police said they were not aware of any arrests."
ABC

I haven't seen any reporting on what the actual cause of this was but really, do we need to go to swinging all the time. Unless the woman threatened someone and looked ready to act what possible reason could there be for this?

It'll be interesting to see how law enforcement and the prosecutor react to this after the non reaction to the Kenneth Gladney beating in St. Louis last year by SEIU thugs.

POPE AGREES THAT STATES HAVE RIGHT TO DEFEND BORDERS

"States must treat migrants with dignity but have the right to regulate immigration and defend their borders, Pope Benedict XVI said on Tuesday.

The pope made his comments in his message for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees, touching on a subject that has caused tensions between the church and governments in European countries, including France and Italy.

He said everyone had the right to leave home to seek better conditions of life in another country.

”At the same time, states have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person,” he said.

He said immigrants had the duty to integrate into their host countries and respect their laws and national identities."
New York Times

Once again the Church walks the middle path. No honest person would say that if they were placed in the shoes of the Mexican that crosses the border illegally that they wouldn't do the same thing if it meant the survival of their family. That doesn't make it right. Countries have not only the right but the responsibility to make sure their borders are secured. Especially today, with the terrorist threat flowing from Islamic radicals, we must know who is coming in and going out and why.

We also need to understand that while, as people, but particularly as people of faith we have a responsibility to help the poor, we also have a right and responsibility to defend ourselves and our families and that right takes precedence. As the economy slips further into depression and the jobless rate grows in America, can we allow the Mexicans to come across and take jobs, often at slave wages, away from members of our American family that need them? I say no!

So we must treat the illegals humanely; that goes without saying. But we also must realize that turning them away is not an inhumane act in and of itself. We have to regulate our borders or we will see our sovereignty disappear, and our way of life along with it.

THOSE VOICES DON'T SPEAK FOR US

Thanks George and Barb (not Bush)

A Republican organization put this together so it's accusations are directed towards the Democrats, the major Progressive party, and they deserve all that is suggested. However, the lesser Progressive party, the Republicans, need to look in a mirror. They've been party to this great theft of our liberties, working alongside the Democrats every step of the way.

This election is the turning point. And not because the Republicans will likely gain back some control. No, the eyes of the nation are focused firmly and resolutely on the actions taken by the Republicans after the elections. If it's business as usual with more big government and bailouts of the bankers and corporate interests there will be revolution. Hopefully not the kind with guns and violence but honestly, I don't know what other options may be left. We can hope to continue to elect more and more to positions of power that actually believe in limited government and over time maybe we can slow and then stop the growth. The problem, though, is time.

We are hearing the last, gasping breaths of our republic as our birthright is sold to the highest bidder. As the fed begins to print more money next week, further debasing our already battered currency, investment will flee from our shores, making our already monumental debt impossible to service, forcing the once great American powerhouse to quiver and shake, begging for relief from our enemies.

We're at the end. The only way out will be so painful that no politician will be able to fix it. This will require leadership of an epic nature and courage and I don't see anyone of that caliber on the horizon, Republican, Democrat or independent.

In short, the coming election will change nothing. Batten down the hatches and get ready for the storm.

And pray.

FOOD FOR FUEL

"The U.S. will pay farmers to produce non-food crops that can be converted to fuels for planes, cars and power plants to reduce reliance on imported oil and boost rural economies, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said today.

The Agriculture Department will resume payments to farmers under the 2008 Biomass Crop Assistance Program for eligible perennial crops and work with the Federal Aviation Administration to develop aviation fuels from farm wastes, Vilsack said today at the National Press Club."
Bloomberg

Absolutely freaking brilliant. We're facing the very real possibility of a global food shortage and what do our overlords in Washington do? They incentivize farmers, using our money, to grow corn and other crops for fuel instead of food. Absolutely brilliant!

Here's an idea; call me crazy if you want. Get the federal government out of farming!!! Completely and totally. No more subsidies or directives. No more Dept. of Agriculture. Nothing. Let the farmers deal with their states and communities. Forget about feeding the world and concentrate on feeding their families and communities. Let the farmer decide what to plant based on demand, experience and best practices.

If the states want to set up a government agency to help farmers to be as efficient as possible and to maybe help to think in terms of long range goals for the state, fine. That's perfectly within the powers of the states. That and the states should have a much better feel for the needs and problems of the local farmers.

But get the fed out of the farming business. Otherwise we're going to end up with plenty of fuel to fly the airplanes but no passengers to put in them because we'll have all starved to death.

If the fed is so concerned about energy then forget ethanol and think nuclear. Proven, efficient technology that will not use our food to run it.

WALMART AND GLOBAL DOMINATION

Go to Business Insider and read 16 facts About Walmart that Will Blow your Mind.

I don't want to pick on Walmart because I know they've provided a lot of jobs. We shop there all the time because, for many items, we don't have much of a choice. All that aside there's one thing about Walmart that really bothers me. This company has become so large, so powerful and in may ways so necessary that if it were to fail it could take the world economy with it. And that's the problem with unhindered free markets and the Objectivist view of the world. When any company becomes as large as Walmart the free market disappears in relation to it.

Tell me that Walmart cannot influence governments to act in its interests. Tell me it cannot encourage behavior by its suppliers that would be detrimental to its competitors. Who's to stop it? Certainly not the U.S. government or any of its regulators. With this fragile economy America can't afford to piss off Walmart.

The only way to protect the free market is to limit the size and power of any given company. This isn't to say that a guy that has an idea, risks it all and succeeds shouldn't get rich. There has to be a reason to risk because without risk there is no advancement. But no one or company should be able to control the market or the political system to such an extent that they can destroy the freedom of others. George Soros comes to mind but it could just as easily be someone from the right. And Walmart is the easiest example of a corporation with the same kind of power, maybe even more.

We've gone beyond the point where much can be done about it but, after the collapse, maybe while we're putting things back together we may want to consider just how much of any given market any company should be allowed to control. I mean, how is Walmart different than the phone company? Busting up Ma Bell may have caused some short term problems but it sure allowed for a whole bunch of competition and innovation in communications.

True free markets require small businesses with as much free enterprise as possible for as many as are willing to take a risk. Huge multinational corporations are the polar opposite of freedom.

The article excerpted below, an interview with author Christopher A. Ferrara, is well worth the read. Click on the link at the end.

"Those “traditionalists” who equate Socialism and Distributism have no idea what Distributism is or else are presenting it dishonestly. I am amazed at the level of obfuscation that has surrounded this simple matter. Distributism means simply the widest possible ownership of private property—that is, widely distributed ownership, hence Distributism.
Distributism means a society of small owners, which is what the whole pre-Socialist Western world was under Catholic social order. It means as much free enterprise as possible for the common man. As Chesterton put it so brilliantly: “Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists.”

Carping “traditionalist” critics of Distributism spend a lot of time rooting about in the works of particular distributist sources, such as the writings of Penty, in order to find evidence of the spectre of socialism—the same bugaboo liberals always raise to herd the masses into the concentration camp of rampant economic liberalism, where Wal-Mart with its Chinese wage slaves is portrayed as a bulwark of human liberty.

But in principle, Distributism is the polar of opposite of Socialism. Nothing about Distributism involves government seizure of anybody’s property. On the contrary, Distributists seek drastic reduction in the power of government precisely because Big Government has always favored Big Business and helped it to crush the small owner in a thousand different ways. As government recedes, and with it the massive advantages of Big Business over its small competitors, small ownership would return naturally.

Capitalism, as I show in the book, is not even at the midpoint between the two poles of Distributism and Socialism, but has actually evolved Leftward into a privatized socialism—Big Business in league with Big Government and Big Finance all over the world. Exhibit A: Bill Gates, promoter of socialism. Exhibit B: Warren Buffet, promoter of socialism. Exhibit C: Wal-Mart, which urges its employees to rely on government-subsidized health care. Exhibit D: The entire capitalist-created network of fractional reserve banking, which goes back centuries, was invented by financial “entrepreneurs” and is now protected by government at the behest of Big Finance. Exhibit E: Limited liability, publicly held, multinational mega-corporations, which are purely the inventions of government saddled to capitalist interests. Pius XI specifically condemned the innumerable abuses arising from this legal invention in Quadragesimo anno.

Anyone who thinks that Wal-Mart and its communist government-subsidized legions of wage slaves in China, or any of the other globe-spanning corporate megaliths that free-ride on government privileges and outsource labor, represents “free enterprise” versus evil Distributism needs to acquaint himself with the Church’s social teaching immediately.

Why do certain “traditionalists” oppose Catholic social teaching? For the same reason I once might have: They do not understand that they are bourgeois liberals who merely think they are “conservatives.” They have accepted the false dichotomy by which Liberalism has overtaken and overthrown all that remained of Christocentric social order: “freedom” or “socialism.”

To read more go to The Distributist Review.

70% OF STOCK TRADES HELD FOR 11 SECONDS

As I was asking yesterday, are you really comfortable with your money in the stock market when it's nothing more than a rigged game?

"The fact that the vast majority of stock market trades are held for 11 seconds shows that the stock market is not a real market with real traders governed by the law of supply and demand, and with no real price discovery."

Go to Washington's Blog to read more.

SUBSIDIARITY AND THE TEA PARTIES

The Catholic Knight had an article today about the need for Catholics to become more involved in the TEA Party movement, and he's right. He suggested, and I think this is brilliant, that Catholics should carry a large sign with the single word "subsidiarity" in bold letters and that we should stand with rosary in hand at the rallies. This would attract people curious about the meaning of the word to us, offering an opportunity to explain authentic Catholic social teaching.

Subsidiarity is central to the role of government in Catholic social teaching. The idea that power should be concentrated at the lowest possible levels, only to move up when a solution can't be found is both logical, sensible and Biblical (Matthew 18: 15-17), which should appeal to our Protestant friends.

Below I've reproduced a section from the Catechism that explains the idea of subsidiarity. For further reading on this topic and Catholic social teaching in general may I suggest The Distributist Review.

1882
Certain societies, such as the family and the state, correspond more directly to the nature of man; they are necessary to him. To promote the participation of the greatest number in the life of a society, the creation of voluntary associations and institutions must be encouraged "on both national and international levels, which relate to economic and social goals, to cultural and recreational activities, to sport, to various professions, and to political affairs."5 This "socialization" also expresses the natural tendency for human beings to associate with one another for the sake of attaining objectives that exceed individual capacities. It develops the qualities of the person, especially the sense of initiative and responsibility, and helps guarantee his rights.6

1883
Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. The teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co-ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good."7

1884
God has not willed to reserve to himself all exercise of power. He entrusts to every creature the functions it is capable of performing, according to the capacities of its own nature. This mode of governance ought to be followed in social life. The way God acts in governing the world, which bears witness to such great regard for human freedom, should inspire the wisdom of those who govern human communities. They should behave as ministers of divine providence.

1885
The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

COLORADO PERSONHOOD INITIATIVE

Blunt, brutal and exactly right on the money. The more the pro-life believers get in the face of the pro-deathers the faster we can get Roe v. Wade overturned. Lovely video!

THE MORTGAGE PROBLEM IS A CANCER THAT WILL LINGER FOR YEARS AND MAY KILL US

The truth is finally starting to leak out, bit by bit. This isn't just sloppy paperwork and minor details. This is a case where fraud of an unimaginable magnitude has been committed against the American people and the only way out will be a complete restructuring of the banking system and decades of battles in court over who owns what.

You don't think this affects you? If you own real estate or are in the process of paying off a mortgage there is a very good chance that you don't have a clear deed to the property. In other words, because of the systems set up by the banks to avoid paying fees in counties and to defraud investors somewhere a long the line the chain of title has most likely been destroyed for your property. Without going to court and re-establishing a clear title, in a majority of cases, you may not be able to state with any degree of certainty that you own the property you paid for.

This isn't just a problem for residential properties; it affects commercial property, too. This may be the final straw for America.

VOTE NO ON MISSOURI PROP B - DO IT FOR THE PUPPIES

You can read the actual bill here.

I'm not against treating dogs or any other animals kindly but we don't need more laws and regulations to do it. This is a lot like the gun regulations constantly being proposed by the Progressives. Regardless of how many laws are on the books the bad guys will have guns or some other weapon. They're criminals! The law means nothing to them. The same goes for the breeders that mistreat their dogs. They don't follow the laws now, why would they follow more of them?

This is about control and restricting the use of animals for damned near anything. That's what the HSUS stands for. This bill gets their foot in the door and next time they'll go after the pig farmer and the guy like me that keeps a few chickens.

Vote this down, Missouri.

"Have you ever wondered why politicians come up with great-sounding titles for proposed legislation that sounds too good to be true? It is always some clever title that, in most cases, masks what's really in the bill.

Accordingly, voters easily can fall prey to the "devil" in the details. Missouri Proposition B is a dramatic example of this with its very provocative title, "The Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act." Unfortunately, when you read the details of Proposition B, you realize that there is nothing in the bill to stop "puppy cruelty" or increase enforcement of the laws.
The proponents of Proposition B, especially the sponsor, the Humane Society of the United States, are counting on you, the voter, to stay uninformed and "just take their word for it" and blindly support Proposition B. Who in his right mind wouldn't vote for a measure claiming to prevent puppy mill cruelty?

But the Animal Care Facilities Act passed in 1992 already regulates dog breeders. These tough regulations are enforced by the Missouri Department of Agriculture. The U.S. Department of Agriculture already requires licensed dog breeders to provide animals with proper care and adequate food, water, shelter, veterinary care and an exercise plan. Under current Missouri law, animal cruelty and animal abuse are illegal.

So, what will Proposition B accomplish that current laws cannot? Therein lies the deception. Proposition B will not increase enforcement to target the unlicensed illegal breeders operating substandard kennels in Missouri. Those operations will continue to operate should Proposition B pass on Nov. 2.

Proposition B is designed to over-regulate Missouri's licensed, law-abiding kennels — over-regulate them out of business — while increasing the state Department of Agriculture's responsibilities. Proposition B would destroy jobs and could significantly decrease revenue to Missouri-based dog food producers, pet-supply stores, pet-product suppliers, feed stores, veterinarians, veterinarian suppliers, fencing companies, real estate companies and trucking companies."
STL Today

A Product of Innocence
by Rep. Ed Emery

"Proposition B will be on Missourian's November 2, 2010 ballot. No matter how it is promoted it is fundamentally the product of ignorance. It reflects ignorance about breeders, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the power of the free market, property rights, and liberty. It is being driven by propaganda rather than truth and depends on emotional appeal rather than the achievement of meaningful reform.

Missourians love their pets and hate to see animals abused. Dog breeders, and I have met a number of them, raise dogs because they love dogs and enjoy seeing others find just the right dog for their family. The goal of these small business people is to satisfy the public's longing for pets at a cost most can afford. My family used to raise basset hounds, and I remember that even a single flea bite on an otherwise perfect puppy meant an unacceptable price penalty along with the determination to find and fix any problem. If a puppy had anything more serious, they might just be refused. It simply does not pay to mistreat animals. But the best breeder would be hurt the most by Prop B.

Many are ignorant about the nature and objectives of HSUS-- the organization behind Prop B. A visit to www.humanewatch.org or www.activistcash.comwill help you assess whether their intentions have anything at all to do with the treatment of animals. While less than $500,000 went to animal shelters (less than 0.5% of HSUS's budget in the same year HSUS's own website lists 14 executives who, it is reported, received $2.5 million in 2008 in pension benefits alone; their salaries are not available.

However, most harmful is ignorance of the significance of property rights to basic American freedoms. There is no more important unalienable right that our constitution secures than that of property rights. Personal property - almost unheard of before the United States exceptional founding - is the right that guarantees all others. It is the only right that once lost will almost certainly not be restored short of armed conflict. Prop B directly assaults property rights and for that reason alone is completely unacceptable and should be ruled unconstitutional. But the courts aside, no issue is important enough to concede to government our last defense against its abuse of the people.

Dispelling ignorance about what is actually in Prop B will help defeat it at the ballot box. First of all, the use of the word "cruelty" is to invoke prejudice, not reason. For example, keeping 51 dogs is cruel but keeping 50 is not; keeping a dog in a 5' by 5' 11" enclosure is cruel while adding one inch to the length makes it kind; kennel temperature of 45 degrees F is kind while 44 degrees is cruel. "Cruelty" is not for the dog; it is for the emotional appeal. We're told Prop B is for "large-scale" breeders, but just 11 female dogs makes you a "large-scale" breeder, and your animal quarters will have to be heated and air conditioned. Finally, if Prop B is about animal cruelty then why are hunting dogs excluded from the regulations?

Proposition B is not about animals or about cruelty, it is an assault on property rights, small businesses, and the free market. It employs a proven strategy for stripping rights from the people and empowering the elitists: 1) find an innocent lovable party - puppy, 2) make them a victim with an emotion-stirring label - puppy mill, 3) make "more government" the solution - Prop B. If voters take a broader and thoughtful perspective and if they insist that freedoms be protected and that policies be logical rather than emotional, then American ideals will win, and Prop B will fail in November."
The Alliance for Truth


A Message From the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association

"The over 1,250 members of the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association care deeply about the welfare of dogs in breeding facilities in our state. Our member veterinarians, like all people who love and care for animals, are appalled at conditions in some of the dog breeding facilities. As animal health professionals, our entire lives are devoted to the treatment of animals and the prevention of suffering and pain. We strongly denounce any animal neglect and cruelty.

There is no doubt there is a need for healthy, well-adjusted puppies in our society. American families deserve to have a source for puppies bred and cared for by compassionate people who practice good animal welfare standards. Such breeders and care-givers may work in small or large facilities.

In our experience, reported problems with some breeding facilities are generally caused by unlicensed individuals. Such facilities are allowed to escape the scrutiny and regulations of existing laws and inspections.

The ballot being proposed for this November would completely shut down our state’s properly operated, inspected and licensed facilities that have over fifty breeding dogs. We see this proposal as unfair and misguided. These properly and humanely operated facilities are providing families with pets under the guidance of extensive current regulations enforced by state government.

We believe a better approach would involve legislation that reviews the current breeder regulations, and that would increase needed resources for inspection of unlicensed breeders. These actions will actually target the real problem and not punish responsible breeders who are working carefully within the law.

As veterinarians we would strongly support legislation that will better protect these dogs through any necessary changes in regulations, but more importantly, through giving our state the resources needed to broaden inspections, hold breeders to high standards and to abolish unlicensed breeders."
The Alliance for Truth

ARE YOU COMFORTABLE IN THE STOCK MARKET?

"The reports last week of increased jobless claims, increasing trade deficit, and an inflation rate for food and energy prices that doubled over the last month should have put a lot of pressure on the open trading markets. Frankly, the stock market is now brushing off most poor economic news at the moment--a trend that analysts worry about because it shows a decoupling of economic fundamentals, and the effect it has over real stock market moves. The electronic trading industry continues to move markets irrespective of economic fundamentals.

In the real world, and on the street, higher jobless claims at a time when seasonal employment should be improving the rate are worrisome. With it, we have to add the notion that producer prices rose 0.4 percent in September. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, inflation moved up just 0.1 percent. One of the concerns over inflationary pressure is that the Fed is likely to add stimulus to the U.S. economy through a Quantitative Easing strategy--which essentially has been called "printing money." The result of this action typically creates inflationary pressure on products.

Lastly, the trade deficit for August moved up 8.8 percent on record imports from China. This is both good and bad. The good side of it is that it shows demand in the U.S. for products is still strengthening, which equates to improved economic activity. But it is also a concern because of the growing trade deficit and the perception that it ships jobs overseas."
YRCW

This article points out something that I don't think many people are aware of; the completely irrational nature of the stock market at this point. You might as well just take your money to the casino and bet it on the game of your choice because that's what we've got with the markets. It used to be that a person could invest based on research and fundamental economics. Now however, the game is being rigged. The markets are controlled by traders with access to computers and software that allow them to trade in milliseconds, changing the value of investments all over the world for no reason outside of short term gain. Remember the "flash crash"?

How can anyone be comfortable knowing that their savings and maybe even their primary source of income is at the mercy of some kid with a computer playing what is essentially a giant game? Can the normal investor understand this system well enough to take advantage of it? Can they even understand it enough to make a cogent argument for the market as a safe repository of their funds? Does the average retiree even understand computers well enough to conceive of the system that is working against their interests?

Of course the investment guys they deal with tell them that everything is under control, that their money is safe. Really? How can they know? They don't control the guys with the computers, either. They can be the best investment guys in the world, doing research and analysis, carefully charting a course through the markets when all of a sudden somebody, in less than the blink of an eye, makes a move that drops the value of an investment for no logical reason, like a tornado sweeping across the plains. Is that a manageable form of risk or just a disaster waiting to happen?

If you don't think I'm right just ask yourself why the market keeps going up when the economy keeps retracting? Doesn't there seem to be a disconnect?

And where does the government come up with these inflation numbers? They don't count food and fuel? What? I don't know about you but outside of my house payment those are the two biggest items in the budget and they're going up fast.

The Producer Price Index keeps going up yet producers aren't passing this on to consumers? If that's the case then we're either on the edge of big time inflation as the cost of goods sold will rise to reflect the cost of production or businesses will start shutting their doors. It's that or the government is lying about the true rate of inflation by somehow cooking the books, again.

It seems to me that nothing can be trusted any longer. The world has become a cesspool of lies and deceit. The government lies, the media lies, even our priests and preachers can't be taken at face value. I know that in the Catholic Church we are seeing constant and purposeful distortion of the truth by many Church leaders to satisfy a political agenda that runs counter to the teachings of the Church itself.

We can no longer be complacent in our daily lives. Everything must be checked for truthfulness. Everything we read, hear and see has to be doubted until we can verify its accuracy. Personally, I don't trust anyone except family and a few friends. I believe in the Catholic Church and the deposit of faith but not the people that control it. I certainly don't trust our federal government at all. I have some confidence in the state and local government but not much. I do trust local law enforcement but believe that they are going to be presented with some horrific choices in the near future that may make it impossible to completely trust them, too.

So what can we do? Personally, I don't worry about it. I figure that it'll all work out the way God wants it to and I'm just going with the flow. I pretty much figure life's going to suck for the foreseeable future and that's just the way it is. The thing is, there's only so much we can do outside of prayer and some basic preparedness. The rest is up to God.

I just hate to see the people that just don't get it, especially the older ones, keep on living as though nothing has changed, as though it's still 30 years ago when America was on top and the rest of the world be damned. Because that's an illusion being sold to them by the money interests to buy enough time to suck every last bit of wealth out of the system. And when they've done it and they pull the plug all the people that bought into their snake oil will be shocked, confused and angry. And a bad situation will quickly become a nightmare.

And that is the truth.

THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL?

H/t I Own the World

There is much to disagree with Ayn Rand about. I don't agree with her Godless philosophy of Objectivism which puts man in the place of God in a sort of Darwinistic version of the "Rights of Kings". She seems to suppose that some are made for greatness while others are made for slavery and that the market will always lead to truth. While these ideas are not completely without merit, the removal of God and original sin and concupiscence and all the other parts of reality she denies distorts the reality she proposes so badly that it must be denied.

That being said, her ideas about the nature of money as described in the video above are essentially correct. In the end money, and wealth, are one thing and one thing only, a representation of labor. When I go to work I trade my labor for money. Someone else's labor created the money I worked for and it was traded to my employer because of his labor, either through direct application of his labor our through a product his labor supplied.

This is why the income tax is so abhorrent. It makes a claim on my money, which in reality is my labor. If someone or some entity can force you to supply your labor to them through force it is slavery. In essence, the income tax makes slaves of us all. The government is the owner and the IRS is the overseer, ready to strike the whip any time we get out of line.

We need to begin to understand something about the true nature of the money we so willingly hand over to thieves and tyrants. It's not just a piece of paper. In many ways it's a part of our souls.

WALMART ROLLS BACK THE ROLL BACKS

So, while the government tells us that inflation is nearly nonexistent and that Social Security and other programs will see no increase because of it, the real story is something far different.

Walmart's not alone in raising prices. It's happening everywhere.

"Walmart has rolled back its rollbacks. Earlier this year, the retailer tried to spark sluggish U.S. sales by lowering its prices — already bargains — even further. One analyst called it "an initiative that screams: Price! Price! Price!" These rollbacks, as they are known in Walmartspeak and in the company's advertising, were intended to overwhelm the shopper. In May, according to one shopping website, the price of a 40-oz. bottle of Heinz ketchup, which had been $2.42, was chopped to $1. Kraft mac and cheese, which had been going for $3.58, was reduced to $2.50. The rollback of a 50-oz. bottle of Tide laundry detergent, which was priced in the $7.48-$8.12 range, gave shoppers a $2.50 discount. Walmart expected a flood of customers to its stores, which would help lift the company's stock out of its rut and get Walmart rolling again.

Instead, cutting prices depressed sales, as shoppers took the bargains and ran. For the quarter ending July 31, Walmart's U.S. same-store sales fell 1.8%. The company's same-store sales have now fallen for five straight quarters. Of the rollback strategy, Bill Simon, the president and CEO of Walmart U.S., told investors at a September conference, "It did not do what we had hoped it would do. It did, however, drive price perception. It did not drive sales or traffic." As a result, Walmart rolled back the deeper discounts, and prices started inching upward this summer. According to a new report from J.P. Morgan, the price of a 31-item basket from a Walmart store in Virginia rose 2.7% in September alone. Walmart prices have jumped 5% since the start of the year and have been at their highest levels in the 21 months J.P. Morgan has tracked pricing data."
Time

BERNANKE CALLS FOR INFLATION - BUT JUST ENOUGH, GOLDILOCKS

The Fed is calling for an increase in inflation to a mandated two percent. But why? How do the pointy heads at the Fed think that inflation will benefit the economy?

Let's step into the way back machine, to the last great depression:



Doesn't that sound just like "trickle down economics" in reverse. If the progressives constantly scream that the conservative version of this same thing, only using private monies instead of public monies, doesn't work then how come they're so convinced it'll work this time?

So, here's the thing. The last Quantitative Easing (money printing for those of us that like clear speech) that the Fed did had no real impact on the economy as a whole. Most of the billions and billions (thanks, Dr. Sagan) that the taxpayers so graciously borrowed went into the coffers of the banks or was used to buy back stock by the giant corporations that had access to it. Very little of it filtered its way out into the private sector unless you count the obscene salaries the bankers paid themselves for destroying the country. I guess they probably used some of that to hire illegals to keep their lawns tidy, but then most of that was sent back to Mexico.

Bernanke is walking a tightrope with this. If the inflation rate gets much over the two percent mark the country won't be able to service the debt and it'll default. However, if we were to go into deflation people will not spend money as quickly because they know prices will be cheaper down the road.

The main question I have is this; do any of these guys ever go to the grocery store or buy gas? My cost of living is accelerating at much faster than two percent and I'm thinking that everybody else is probably seeing the same thing. So what's the deal? Why does the government constantly act as though inflation is non-existent?

Just acting as the devils advocate here I have to wonder; could it be because all those social programs that the left are so wild about are tied to inflation? And could that be the reason Social Security recipients aren't getting a raise? How does artificially depressing the real rate of inflation affect other areas of the federal budget?

That's why the plan to "increase" inflation to two percent won't work and could possibly cause more damage than good. If the Fed creates more money the value of the dollar will collapse even further. It's already in a free fall. So all of us here in America that are already having trouble making ends meet will find it increasingly difficult to spend money on anything but the essentials. That will not cause any sort of trickle up effect as the fed is hoping for.

Worse, as the dollar continues to decline and and investors run from it we'll find it increasingly hard to raise the money to pay the debt and keep the government afloat. I know that inflation, by cheapening the dollar also lightens the debt load but two percent isn't anywhere near enough to do it.

This is an end game, Hail Mary pass scenario. The Fed has shot just about all their bullets now. The markets will go up with this plan because the Wall Street guys are looking for another bailout which is exactly what more quantitative easing will give them. Bond prices continue to fall as the thirty year auction barely sold anything. The world sees us as a bad risk and is refusing to buy any long term debt and very little short term. So what the market does or doesn't do, in the bigger picture, is somewhat meaningless.

So buckle up boys and girls, the last part of the ride is about to begin. And this is the scariest part of all, the one where we go over the cliff.

OBAMACARE FORCES CLOSING OF CATHOLIC HOSPITALS IN PENNSYLVANIA

Could it be that Obamacare is forcing the closing of Catholic Hospitals? And is this just the beginning as more and more hospitals of all sorts realize that they can't keep there doors open under the payment schedules forced upon them by government?

I wonder if any of this will make it into the main stream media?

"Can you say "October Surprise"?

A mushrooming political battle over ObamaCare involving the White House, two incumbent Pennsylvania congressmen, three Catholic hospitals and a nun has just exploded in, of all places, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Charges from the Scranton medical community of intimidation by the Obama White House and its allies are filling the air.
All of this just as Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Scranton today to raise money for one of the participants.

There are two issues at the core of the controversy.

1. ObamaCare and the sale of three Scranton-area Catholic hospitals.
2. The re-election prospects of the two House members, Democrats Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney, both of whom cast key votes to pass ObamaCare.

Here's the list of players -- major and minor -- so far.

• The President of the United States.
• The Vice President of the United States.
• Three Scranton-area Catholic hospitals suddenly for sale.
• The CEO of the three Scranton-area Catholic hospitals for sale.
• ObamaCare, otherwise known as "health care reform" or the "Affordable Care Act."
• A Catholic nun.
• Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak.
• A pen.
• Victoria Reggie Kennedy, widow of the late Senator Ted Kennedy.
• Time magazine.
• The Scranton Times
• The two Scranton-area House members Kanjorski and Carney, both losing in the polls.
• U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr., a native and resident of Scranton.
• Congressman Joe Sestak, the Democrats' nominee for the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat.

Where to start? That would be…."

To read the rest go to the American Spectator.

MRS. OBAMA BREAKS THE ELECTION LAW IN ILLINOIS

So, you think that there'll be any legal repercussions for Mrs. Obama?

One law for them, another for us.

"First lady Michelle Obama appears to have violated Illinois law today -- when she engaged in political discussion at a polling place!

The drama began after Mrs. Obama stopped off at the Martin Luther King Center on the south side of Chicago to cast an early vote.

After finishing at the machine, Obama went back to the desk and handed in her voting key.

She let voters including electrician Dennis Campbell, 56, take some photos.

"She was telling me how important it was to vote to keep her husband's agenda going," Campbell said.

According to the pool reporter at the scene, the conversation took place IN the voting center not far from the booths.

Illinois state law -- Sec. 17-29 (a) -- states: "No judge of election, pollwatcher, or other person shall, at any primary or election, do any electioneering or soliciting of votes or engage in any political discussion within any polling place, within 100 feet of any polling place."

WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS ELECTIONEERING

When questioned about the brazen nature of Mrs. Obama's campaigning, press secretary Robert Gibbs defended the action.

"I don't think it would be much to imagine, the First Lady might support her husband's agenda," Gibbs smiled."
Drudge

THE PERFECT STORM IS JUST OVER THE HORIZON

It seems as though America has walked into a trap from which there is no escape. As the articles below suggest, it may be sprung soon.

Here's the situation. America has an unsustainable debt load and an economy in either recession or depression, depending on who you believe. The politicians and bankers that control our economy believe that Keynesian economic policy is the best way to manage our slowing economy and turn it around. They believe that government injection of capital into the economy will create jobs which will in turn generate paychecks that will be spent on other products and services, creating more jobs which will eventually cause the economy to rebound. Sort of trickle down economics in reverse. Actually it seems closer to Marxism and government control of the economy to me but that's neither here nor there.

The problem that we face with the Keynesian model is that to spend money into the economy the government has to have money to spend. Since we no longer are in charge of our money but have instead handed that power off to the federal reserve we now have to borrow money to inject it into the system. We are so deeply in debt now that every dollar we borrow to create economic growth actually reduces our GDP.

Over the last couple years the Fed has tried to stimulate the economy by keeping interest rates low, really low. This has caused the interest rates paid on U.S. Treasury Bonds to stay low, too. Bonds are essentially loans made to our government with the promise of a return to the investor at maturity. U.S. bonds have always been considered the safe investment in times of trouble because of our economic stability. Even when the rates are low people and countries buy them to protect their money. Of course, countries that buy them may have other reasons for their purchases. China for instance. We now owe so much money to China through bond sales that they can in many ways call the shots.

In other words, to make the Keynesian model work we have to borrow money from other countries, mainly China. The problem is that China and a bunch of other countries have started to cut back on bond purchases, thus making our ability to generate the funds needed to prop up the economy unavailable.

So what can the government do to avoid economic collapse?

The normal way out would be through inflation. The Fed could begin to raise interest rates which would do two things. It would make our money less valuable, driving down the cost of our debt and it would raise the interest rate paid on bonds which would attract more investors thus injecting, through debt, more capital into the economy. The problem with this approach is the enormous debt the country is already carrying. If the interest rate climbs we won't be able to service our debt and will be forced to default. America will collapse.

The other choice is for the Fed to begin buying our bonds, in other words, monetizing the debt. This means turning on the presses and printing money to finance our own debt creating a death spiral from which there is no return. The dollar will become worthless and the cost of the most basic commodities will go through the roof. This seems to be the path we have chosen.

Because we've placed ourselves in this position we've opened the door to manipulation of our currency by others. If our enemies want to destroy us they only need to make sure that no one will buy our debt through bond purchases. They need to create something else that is more attractive as a safe harbor in these times of economic turmoil. What better place than gold.

If the price of gold is on the rise and is perceived as only getting ready to go higher investors will put their money in gold, not Treasuries. And if this happens America will either have to raise interest rates to bring them back, begin to monetize the debt or default.

Checkmate.

Maybe there is a way out of this mess that people far smarter than me can clearly see. And maybe that way would preserve our freedoms in America and not make us slaves. Maybe. I doubt it, though.

Something bad is coming our way, whether today, tomorrow or a month from now. The timing is open to conjecture but not the certainty that massive calamity lies just over the horizon. The perfect storm has been building for a long time now and it seems poised to strike.

Pray.

"At the risk of being dismissed as outlandish conspiracy theorists, we must point out to our readers that things may not be as they seem.

We know, for a fact, that organizations like the Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission and Council on Foreign Relations work in concert to manipulate everything from monetary policy and financial markets to politics and social perceptions. This has been made crystal clear over the last decade through projects such as the global warming carbon tax, Agenda 21, the passage of liberty restricting laws domestically and internationally, and most recently, the coordinated multi-trillion dollar bailouts of interrelated financial institutions.

One thing that is not known by the majority of the public, and is rarely ever discussed, is that the aforementioned international cooperatives don’t always include representation from around the globe. In general, these organizations are focused more on what they can do in “the west,” in regions such as Europe and the United States, rather than intricately involving themselves with all global governments. Not everyone shares the same goals as the financial and political tycoons of the United States, England and Europe.

Make no mistake - there are other interests that are operating against these organizations’ intended goals. We rarely, if ever, hear about the Chinese, for example. But they most certainly have their own Illuminati, for lack of a better word, which most likely do not share the same interests as those of the West. The Chinese have a long history of dynasties, and though we can’t see them overtly, they do exist and pull strings within China and the greater Asian region to promote their own agendas. The Russians, led by Mr. Vladimir Putin, do not share the same goals of “New World Order” global domination as America and Europe. In fact, it was the Russians that came under attack by Western financial institutions who at one time attacked the Ruble much like the British Pound. Russian leaders have not forgotten; they’ve also not forgotten the attack on their way of life, which eventually led to the complete collapse of the Soviet Union.

Regardless of what is reported about international cooperation, these countries and their affiliates would love to see a total and complete collapse of Western states.

The ultimate goal, of course, is for the U.S. dollar and the “American oligarchy” to be destroyed and they are likely actively pursuing policies and strategies to do just that. Unfortunately, any such collapse of this so-called oligarchy would lead to much pain and suffering for average people.

Everyone - at least those who follow even basic monetary, economic and financial news - knows that the U.S. dollar is in trouble. How long it can be held up is anyone’s guess, but there is certainly a movement to destabilize the dollar completely.

Up until this point, America has been the dominant force in the world of economics, but if players like the Chinese, Russians and others are strategically working together to crush the U.S. dollar, then we could have serious trouble in the near future. These “other interests” have, literally, trillions upon trillions of dollar equivalents in buying power and could execute an attack on the dollar and U.S. financial institutions at anytime - perhaps it’s happening already.

Remember, they are the creditors, not the debtors. And while we may have the ability to default on our debt, or devalue our currency to pay the debt in inflated dollars, they are the ones who can cut off our credit flow. When an individual person defaults on a loan, a bank may foreclose on your home, or come after other assets. If the same were to happen with the United States, it may lead to something much worse."
SHTF Plan

"...If this keeps up [the devaluation of the dollar] by the time Bernanke gets to his meeting the dollar will be lucky if it's not in the 60s, below all historical support levels. Somewhere in here it will come under severe speculative attack.

Bernanke thinks he can control this if it happens. He's wrong.

I wrote about this in 2007 and said that if it happened - the last time we were down there - it would be a catastrophe. Such an event would cause commodities to shoot the moon on a literal basis and result in massive capital flight of foreign funds out of the United States.

This is exactly the sort of trap that can lead a central banker to make the critical mistake of trying to "ease" even more - that is, print his way out. If he makes that error the currency is destroyed and when it implodes the government will go with it, as every citizen's liquid net worth will be rendered value-less overnight, exactly as occurred in Weimar."
Market Ticker

MORE ON THE COMING FOOD SHORTAGE

"The 2010 U.S. corn harvest will be the third largest in history, behind only 2007 and 2009. But that's not big enough. When the United States Department of Agriculture announced last week that farmers would produce only 12.7 billion bushels of corn this year, down 4 percent from its September estimate, corn future prices exploded upward by the maximum allowable amount in one day, and meat prices are sure to head in the same direction. Bloomberg reports that retail prices for pork and beef are already at their highest point since the 1980s.

It's only going to get worse. It's very difficult to see how the fundamentals pushing agricultural prices up are going to change in any significant way. The consequences of surging global demand for meat, largely propelled by China -- where meat consumption has more than doubled in the last decade and a half -- combined with the diversion of as much of a third of the U.S. corn crop to ethanol, are inescapable."
Salon

From my friend Ioannes at Commentarius de Prognosticis:

"In 740 BC Isaiah was called to prophecy against Israel and Judah for their abandonment of and rebellion against the Lord. Verses 17 through 20 in chapter 9 of the Old Testament Book bearing his name states,

By the wrath of the LORD Almighty
the land will be scorched
and the people will be fuel for the fire;
no one will spare his brother.

On the right they will devour,
but still be hungry;
on the left they will eat,
but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of his own offspring.

Concerning the present age Luke 6:25 states:

Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.

The crimes of Judah and Israel pale in comparison to the 50+ million babies we have murdered since Roe v Wade in 1972. So now we will get what we deserve for putting evil, wicked, malevolent baby-murdering lovers of homosexual filth in charge in the White House and Congress, for abandoning God and morality, and for seeking comfort and pleasure at the expense of the most innocent and helpless in society. Indeed, we will receive exactly and precisely what we have given. It happened to Israel. It happened to Judah. We are NOT exempt. Revelation 6:5-6 will now come to pass:

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

Prepare and pray for guidance, faith and forgiveness. Things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.

UNION PENSIONS TO BE BAILED OUT BY YOUR 401K IF SENATE DEMOCRATS HAVE THEIR WAY

Nothing like a little re-distribution to start the week off right.

"Democrats in the Senate on Thursday held a recess hearing covering a taxpayer bailout of union pensions and a plan to seize private 401(k) plans to more "fairly" distribute taxpayer-funded pensions to everyone.

...In a nutshell, under the GRA system government would seize private 401(k) accounts, setting up an additional 5% mandatory payroll tax to dole out a "fair" pension to everyone using that confiscated money coupled with the mandated contributions. This would, of course, be a sister government ponzi scheme working in tandem with Social Security, the primary purpose being to give big government politicians additional taxpayer funds to raid to pay for their out-of-control spending."
Human Events

FOOD WILL BECOME SCARCE - PREPARE YOURSELVES

"Fears of a global food crisis swept the world’s commodity markets as prices for staples such as corn, rice and wheat spiralled after the US government warned of “dramatically” lower supplies.

An especially hot summer in the US, droughts in countries including Russia and Brazil and heavy rain in Canada and Europe have hit many grain and oilseed crops this year. This has raising concern of a severe squeeze in food supplies and a repeat of the 2007-08 food crisis.

The US Department of Agriculture, in a closely watched report, predicted that the country’s stocks of corn would halve to their lowest levels in 14 years.

It warned of a “much tighter supply picture” for corn and barley, the two main feedstocks used to fatten cows, sheep, pigs and poultry."
Financial Times

The best investment you can make right now isn't gold or stocks but food. We are facing hyperinflation and shortages in our food supply. Not only are the speculators inflating the market as the dollar collapses but we are also looking at shortages in the most basic commodities which will ripple through the entire system, just as was predicted nearly a year ago at Market Skeptics.

Get your head out of the sand and prepare for the near future of food shortage and economic collapse. It's already begun.

ADDENDUM TO THE "1990 PROPHECY"

I don't normally post entire articles lifted from other sites but I think it's important that people read this from Spirit Daily. I believe that we are on the verge of a change of era that can only be described in Biblical terms. I think that this particular visionary is worth considering because he (or she) has been accurate in the past.

The other thing that I find interesting about this current prophecy is the first line of the paragraph that says, "The trials of your time now head to the crescendo of meaning, whereby to each will be shown the imperfection of the past and the need for purification of the future."

This sounds eerily like the Illumination of the Soul foretold to St. Catherine Laboure in 1830.

So do with this what you will. I'm posting it because I believe that we are about to see destruction and miracles of a kind like nothing ever seen before and this may be a word of warning passed along for those that wish to hear. At least, if you've heard of these types of prophecies and it turns out that they're right you won't be completely unprepared for the things they describe. And if nothing happens, you haven't wasted much time.

On December 3, 1990, an unusual locution received during a dream yielded remarkable alleged prophecies of the future. Known as the "1990 prophecy," it was received by a person who has steadfastly insisted on anonymity (supposedly from an angel and Christ) and was followed fourteen years later -- on December 22, 2004 -- by a second one.

Those putative private "revelations" can be reviewed here. They are offered only for prayerful consideration. As with any alleged mysticism, questions may be raised about aspects of them. Detailed in the book Tower of Light, the prophecies have received substantial circulation because they correctly foresaw the regional "chastisements" that have occurred around the world in various forms (from quakes to storms) since 1990, hinted strongly at what turned out to be September 11, and all but directly indicated the coming of cloning and embryonic stem-cell cloning (which were anticipated in the prophecy as "a great new evil comparable to abortion"). Other and indeed more dramatic aspects of the prophecy have not yet materialized, including predictions of societal breakdown, a new world order, an anti-christ-like man of "influence," and apparition-like manifestations of Jesus.

The 1990 and 2004 predictions have now been followed by a third. Received on September 25 (a week ago last Saturday), we will here simply state what it says, with no commentary. That we will undertake in subsequent articles. The missive was received and written down around three in the morning (completed at 3:13 a.m.), and we have been made privy to the original, as was the case too of the other alleged messages. We are still in the process of discernment and present it only in the spirit of the New Testament admonition to consider the prophetic. As with the others, there is the dilemma of possible deception at the same time one recognizes the role of prophecy through the Bible. Unlike many messages, which are far more frequent, there have been but three from this alleged recipient in two decades.

It was recorded as follows:

"The trials of your time now head to the crescendo of meaning, whereby to each will be shown the imperfection of the past and the need for purification of the future. In these transgressions is found the enemy of Creation, and the one who seeks to install his spirit as the spirit that conquers for all time. It is a final battle in which the trials of the future will serve as engagements complete unto themselves. Those who choose to ignore the dynamic of spiritual interaction will find themselves in a very confused state that will lead to more conflict. While love prevails, so does courage, and so does the uncovering of those spirits which now install themselves as guardians for those who have invited into their hearts falsity. The angels stand ready to assist those who unleash power with humility and belief. Only those in union with God will be able to see in the darkness which so many expected and that already is upon the earth. New Mexico I have ordained as a beacon of light and also the place near the water where the cross stands. In this time, expect the error of premature expectation, but not [error in] the truth of the expectation itself. For these times, you have the Rosary, and even more so, the praise. In union with God comes all protection, as the dark spirits are now allowed to materialize in full due to the pretense and aspirations of man. Not until the initial event will the curtain be drawn that reveals the entirety of the plan, and even then, it will be parted only slowly, in the woes of purification."

WALID SHOEBAT - RESTORE AMERICA RALLY - THE TRUTH ABOUT ISLAM

One time Muslim terrorist and now Christian convert Shoebat speaking yesterday.

MORE ON THE MORTGAGE CRISIS FACING AMERICA

The article below was written by Jennifer Brunner, the Ohio Secretary of State. It's another further indication of just how much damage has been done to our economy by the bankers and the creation of Mortgage Backed Securities. The clouds are gathering and the storm is on the horizon.

"There is a gargantuan storm brewing. The conditions were set for it with Congress' repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1998, loosening restrictions on banks to sell securities and still lend money for consumers to buy homes.

In just 12 years these pressure fronts are about to erupt because of something as simple as how documents are notarized. I am reminded of the fact Timothy McVey was apprehended, not because he robbed a bank, but because the tags on his car were expired. One thing leads to another, and what unfolds is the discovery of something so fundamentally wrong that it can't be ignored."

To read more go to The Huffington Post.

THE FOURTH AMENDMENT AND X-RAY VISION

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Seems pretty clear to me - how about you? If the government wants to get into my life and look at any of my stuff or inside my property it has to possess a warrant. That means it has to go before a judge, explain its reasons for needing to invade my privacy and get the judge's permission to do so. We don't need a degree in the law to understand this, do we?

Then why can't the government, and its employees, the ones that swore an oath to uphold the Constitution seem to be able to figure it out?

"For many living in a terror-spooked country, it might seem like a great government innovation: Use vans equipped with mobile X-ray units to scan vehicles at major sporting events, or even randomly, for bombs or contraband.

But news that the US is buying custom-made vans packed with something called backscatter X-ray capacity has riled privacy advocates and sparked internet worries about "feds radiating Americans."

...On Tuesday, a counterterror operation snarled truck traffic on I-20 near Atlanta, where Department of Homeland Security teams used mobile X-ray technology to check the contents of truck trailers. Authorities said the inspections weren't prompted by any specific threat.

The mobile X-ray technology works by bouncing narrow X-ray streams off an object like a car and then analyzing the scatter rate of the returning rays. Operators can then locate less-dense objects that could be bodies or bombs.

..."Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum of national security … you have to be realistic that this is another way in which the government is capturing information they may lose control over," says Mr. Lane. "I just have some real problems with the idea of even beginning a campaign of rolling surveillance of American citizens, which is what this essentially is."
Yahoo News

Now that it has established its "right" to deny people and companies the Fourth Amendment protections and due process when it comes to their vehicles, will using this equipment on houses be far behind? Will all of your private activities be open to public scrutiny? Does the Constitution have any meaning at all any longer?

If the Constitution has no meaning them what can we say of America? Does it even exist any longer, beyond being a place on a map? How does it differ from any other country now, except in degrees? Our natural law rights, the ones guaranteed protection in the once mighty Constitution are trampled with impunity. Our government is no longer representative, it has become despotic. It can monitor our homes, cars, emails and pretty much whatever else it pleases without due process. It has created a tax system that is used to destroy and control. The IRS considers you guilty unless you can prove your innocence and will do whatever it takes to force you to conform to its will. The government creates and spends money against the will of the people, enslaving future generations to debt they never asked for. The rich and powerful live under one set of laws while the rest of us live under another, destroying all respect for the legal system. "Too Big to Fails" can do whatever they want knowing the government will backstop them while millions that played by the rules these same organizations colluded with the government to create are losing their houses, jobs and hope.

We've turned a corner and entered the New World Order where the connected rule the masses. This is no different than life under communist rule or the feudal order of the Middle Ages. The great experiment in self government instituted on our shore 234 years ago has failed.

How? As Benjamin Franklin said:

“When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”

That's really all there is to it. The people want the money and benefits so they vote for it. The politicians that control those same monies become the masters of the people and the powers that control the politicians control it all. We sold our souls and our freedom for the lie of governmental security.

We are afraid to stand on our own two feet and to accept the consequences of our decisions. We all want our government to accept a role it was never intended to have and in fact we were warned against. We view government as children view their parents, not as adults willing to stand on our own. We don't want a system of laws designed to protect our liberties - we want a mommy to take care of us when we get hurt. We act like children and now we'll be treated as such by a government that has assumed the parental position of power we've asked it to assume.

Be careful what you wish for, kids.